He Opened A Matchmaking Agency In 18Th Century London [EN]: Chapter 110

Charlie’s face brightened again at the mention of drawing a picture.

“Uncle? What kind of picture should I draw?”

“You know the girl who was carrying food just now? Her name is Lucy. Can you draw her? You don’t need to draw a detailed painting. Just capture her likeness so that when you look at the picture, you can tell it’s Lucy. Do you understand?”

“Ah, I know what you mean. No problem.”

“Good. I’ll bring Lucy over now.”

“Yes.”

Theo called Lucy over, explained the situation, and asked her to sit down.

Lucy, who had been suddenly brought over without knowing why, sat in the chair looking bewildered.

Lucy asked Charlie,

“Do I just sit here like this?”

“Yes, please stay like that for a moment.”

Charlie picked up a pencil and drew a few lines on the paper, then spoke in less than a few minutes.

“Okay, Lucy. You can get up now.”

“Already?”

“Yes.”

As Lucy left the room, Theo asked with a puzzled look.

“Charlie? Aren’t you supposed to draw with a model? Is it okay to just send her away like that?”

“You told me to capture her features as quickly as possible so that I can recognize her.”

“…Oh, right. Still, that’s…”

“It’s not a detailed painting, so what I saw just now is enough. Besides, Lucy looks too uncomfortable and awkward, which is distracting me from concentrating.”

Theo wondered what he was talking about.

He had heard of perfect pitch, where one could immediately identify the pitch of a sound without external help, but he had never heard of someone drawing a portrait without looking at the model for more than a few minutes.

“Really? You can complete a painting without a model?”

“Yes. I’ve sketched all the important features, so there’s no problem.”

“Really?”

He decided to just let it go and see how similar he could draw.

“How long will it take to complete?”

“Since I’m just capturing the person’s features, 15 minutes should be enough.”

“15 minutes? Really?”

“Yes.”

Theo was curious. How well could he draw with just the memory in his head without a model?

“Should I draw her full body in motion, or as a portrait?”

Despite the sudden request, he didn’t seem flustered at all, and even asked about the form of the painting, which made him feel strange.

“Oh? Uh… Can you draw it as a portrait?”

“Of course, a portrait would take 10 minutes.”

“…Really?”

As soon as the answer was given, Charlie drew lines on the paper without hesitation.

“Charlie?”

“Yes?”

“By any chance… can you draw Lucy looking very happy? Her expression earlier looked too stiff.”

“Yes. I understand. I’ll try to draw her with happy emotions.”

Theo didn’t know much about painting, but he knew that even skilled painters usually complete their paintings based on countless sketches.

But Charlie drew the picture with just a few bold lines, almost without any corrections, as if he were drawing a finished painting.

And that was with the face of a stranger he had only seen a few times.

And in less than 10 minutes, a picture of Lucy smiling happily with a bright face was drawn.

“I’m done. Here you go.”

“……”

Theo, who received the picture, felt like he was holding something extraordinary.

It wasn’t a picture drawn in 10 minutes, but a picture that seemed to have been painstakingly drawn with Lucy sitting for several hours.

Moreover, he had changed her clothes and accessories to something completely different and drew her beautifully.

‘Wow… is he really a genius?’

It seemed that such an absurd ability was born when excellent observation and memory met with innate painting talent.

“Oh my! Oh my goodness! Are you already done?”

Lucy, who came with the food to take out, was startled to see Charlie’s painting.

“Yes, Lucy. He drew it so well, right?”

“Yes! Oh, how can he draw so well?”

It was simple, but Lucy’s face and features were intact, and above all, the fact that he drew her happy appearance with imagination was amazing.

Theo had been worried about hiring a suitable painter for the matchmaking company. But there seemed to be no better talent than this.

Theo handed the painting directly to Lucy and asked.

“How is it, Lucy? Does the person in this picture really look like Lucy?”

Lucy nodded her head repeatedly as she received the picture.

“Yes, yes. It’s so amazing. It’s not like there are colors or complicated lines, but how can he capture the feeling so well with just simple lines? He’s really amazing!”

Lucy was greatly impressed and satisfied.

It was a sincere reaction that came from the fact that it was not simply a copied picture, but the real emotion hidden in the picture was felt.

Certainly, there was a special quality in Charlie’s paintings that was difficult to express.

Theo asked Charlie, who was smiling shyly at Lucy’s praise.

“Charlie, how much do you get for cleaning chimneys a week now?”

“I get about 1 shilling [a British coin] a week.”

At 1 shilling a week, he wouldn’t make 3 pounds [British currency] even if he worked all year round.

Even if he combined it with what his younger sibling earned, it would be about 5 pounds a year, which was impossible to cover the living expenses of a family of five and his father’s medicine.

It was too much of a burden for a boy who was only 12 years old to bear.

“Charlie seems to be very good at drawing and likes it a lot?”

“Yes. To be honest, there are many times when I just want to draw all day. I was so happy when I drew just now. Hehe.”

Charlie’s eyes sparkled whenever he talked about drawing.

“Then how about this? I’m opening a company soon, and Charlie’s drawing skills are essential there. So, stop cleaning chimneys and come to my company to draw and earn money. What do you think?”

Charlie had a blank expression at the unexpected offer.

“I don’t understand… You don’t mean you’ll give me money just for drawing, do you?”

Theo smiled and replied.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m going to give you money just for drawing a picture like that. To be more precise, I’m going to formally hire you at our company.”

“Joining the company and simply drawing people’s faces, like you drew Lucy just now, will be Charlie’s main job. Of course, you’ll get a fixed weekly wage even if you don’t draw.”

“Yes? You mean I get a fixed weekly wage?”

Charlie had a dreamy expression.

“Yes. And the salary will be 1 pound a week. Of course, you’ll get a bonus if you have to draw a lot.”

“A week… 1 pound? I didn’t mishear 1 shilling, did I?”

“Hehe. No, it’s 1 pound a week.”

He couldn’t earn 3 pounds even if he cleaned chimneys to death all year round. But he couldn’t believe that he would get 1 pound a week.

“1 pound a week… that’s a huge sum of more than 4 pounds a month? Is that even possible…?”

Charlie had a reason to be surprised. 1 pound was several times more than the salary of a servant in a noble family.

“You have a special talent. It’s an amazing ability. You deserve more because it’s something no one else can do. I’ll give you a bonus too, right?”

Charlie wanted to pinch his cheek at Theo’s words, saying that there was even a bonus here.

“But… how can my insignificant skills… help your company?”

Charlie asked worriedly, still not believing it.

“Your skills are more than enough. I’m even sorry to use Charlie’s talent for this kind of work. If you join our company, I feel like I should bow my head in gratitude? Haha.”

“…Uncle.”

Tears were already welling up in Charlie’s eyes.

He was full of expectations that if he received the prize money from this art competition, he might be able to get his father’s medicine and buy bread so that his family wouldn’t starve for a few months.

However, when he rushed to the awards ceremony after finishing his hard chimney cleaning, his name was nowhere to be seen.

When he asked the competition officials, they pointed to the back of the warehouse, and when he went there, he saw the paintings he had worked so hard on lying around carelessly.

His heart ached as his portrait, abandoned in a dark and cold place, looked just like his sick father.

Charlie quickly picked up the painting and came out, but eventually burst into tears of sorrow.

Everything was hopeless.

He couldn’t work for several days because he was taking care of his mother and younger sister who had severe colds, so he couldn’t earn money.

He went back to work yesterday, but he was cut a quarter of his wages from last week. It was a penalty for not coming to work.

Now, he didn’t even have enough money to buy a few pieces of hard bread, let alone his father’s medicine.

But in just a few hours, an unbelievable miracle had happened in front of him.

Today was a day that made Charlie feel like he was walking on clouds, after having such unlucky days lately.

*

Theo took Charlie home in a carriage, stopped by a well-known herbal medicine shop nearby to buy medicine for Charlie’s parents, and gave him food to eat for about a week.

And he told him to rest well at home and take good care of himself until the company opened.

“Charlie. You’ll get paid from today. You’ll get paid every week whether you work or not, so don’t worry and take a good rest. When you come to the company, your wrists will hurt a lot from drawing, so be prepared. Haha.”

“Thank you! Thank you so much. I don’t care if my wrists break if it’s for drawing. I’ll work really hard. If there’s anything the company needs, even if it’s not drawing, please call me anytime. I’m a professional at cleaning windows and chimneys, so just leave it to me.”

“No. Charlie doesn’t have to do that kind of work anymore. Just practice drawing hard. Charlie will be a great painter in the future.”

“Thank you, Uncle. Thank you… really.”

*

London, Mayfair, Theo’s mansion.

Swish-

Theo, who had taken Charlie home and returned, looked at the painting again carefully.

‘Hmm… it really looks so much like Lucy. It’s like Lucy’s meticulous but hasty personality is captured in the painting. He didn’t even look at her face properly in that short amount of time… Wow.’

Certainly, Charlie seemed to have a special ability to put what he saw in his head and draw it with emotions through imagination.

‘I sponsored the art competition, but I got a sponsor who is essential for my business. I have to actively support Charlie from behind so that he can grow more. I’ll send him to art school too. Hehe.’

Certainly, the principle that one good deed leads to another seems to be true even in the 18th century.

Knock. Knock.

Lucy came into the study with tea.

“Master. It’s warm tea.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

Lucy put the teacup on the desk and asked.

“But, Master?”

“Yes?”

“Why did you ask me to draw my face earlier? You could have asked me to draw Master.”

Theo raised his head.

“Oh, that’s not the problem. Actually, I had something important to tell Lucy.”

“Yes?”

“Can you sit in that chair for a moment?”

“?”

Lucy, with a puzzled expression, sat in the chair in front of the desk.

“Master, what’s wrong?”

She looked nervous because it was rare.

“Lucy?”

“Yes, please tell me.”

“I think you should quit working at this house now.”

Lucy’s face turned pale.

“M…Master. What do you mean all of a sudden? Quit working?”

“That’s…”

Lucy, who had turned pale, put her hands together and pleaded.

“Did I do something wrong? If so, I’ll fix it right away. Please don’t tell me to leave!”

She had worked as a maid in many places, but there was no place as comfortable as Theo’s house. The weekly wage was generous, but above all, it was a comfortable house.

“Oh, I think Lucy misunderstood me. That’s not what I meant… After watching you so far, I think it’s a waste of Lucy’s talent to just do housework.”

“Yes? A waste of talent? What do you mean?”

“Lucy, you know that I’m going to establish a matchmaking company in Kensington soon, right?”

“Of course.”

“I’m formally asking you. Would you like to work at a matchmaking company? I want to use Lucy as a manager. The salary will be at least three times higher than now. How about it? Are you willing to do it?”

Lucy’s eyes widened.

“M…Master. I don’t understand what you’re saying…”

“It’s nothing much. I’m just telling you to come out of the house and work. You don’t have to worry about whether you can do it well or not. In a way, it’s just an extension of what Lucy has been doing. It’s an expanded version of what you’ve been doing, such as greeting customers and observing their expressions and understanding their needs when matchmaking customers come… something like that.”

“……”

“Of course, if it’s really difficult and doesn’t suit you, you can do housework again. But, I think you’ll do really well?”

Lucy was as surprised as Charlie and couldn’t speak for a while.

◈ Kensington High Street, Theo’s Matchmaking Company.

“No! To the left! Raise it a little more to the left!”

On the third floor of Theo’s building, workers were busy putting up the sign.

It was the sign for the matchmaking company.

Theo’s building consisted of a cafe on the first floor, a VVIP consultation room and reception room connected to the back of the cafe, a matchmaking company on the second and third floors, and a trading company on the fourth floor.

The fifth floor was decorated as Theo’s personal office.

The trading company on the fourth floor was planned to play the role of a comprehensive management company for the industries Theo invested in, such as coffee trade, cotton, coal, and steam engines, but the employee recruitment was postponed because it was still in the planning stage.

In this way, the internal renovation and company establishment, which took several weeks, proceeded smoothly as planned.

And finally, Theo,

Established a matchmaking company in Kensington, London in the 18th century.

*

A few days later, the reception room of Theo’s Matchmaking Company on the second floor.

“Yes, please fill it out here.”

“Then, do people who visit in person have priority over those who send mail?”

“No, whether it’s a letter or a personal visit, it’s accepted in the order it arrives.”

How did they know that a matchmaking company was opening in Kensington? Many consultation inquiries and reservation letters had arrived at the company address.

With people flocking in for direct consultations, the office was literally a mess.

“Wow, I’m so out of my mind!”

Theo, who was going up the stairs to the second floor, glanced at the office and saw Isabel Moore, who was in charge of reception, shouting to another colleague.

Other employees also looked dazed by the flood of consultation inquiries.

As Theo’s name became widely known through newspapers and magazines, the matchmaking company’s awareness and credibility also increased.

In addition, the rumor that it would pick out a good spouse at an affordable cost was met with a massive welcome and a lot of attention from parents who were worried about being scammed into marriage.

Theo sighed with concern as he looked at the reception area, which had become a battlefield.

‘I need to increase the number of reception staff. How could I try to do this with just a few people…? If I leave it like this, they’ll be in big trouble from overwork.’

Theo hired a total of five matching managers, including Lucy, a month before officially opening the matchmaking company.

Lucy, whom he had watched for a long time, was more perceptive and accurate in her work than anyone else, and she could also read and write, so she seemed to be able to play an active role as the team leader of the matching manager team.

In addition, through interviews, he hired four matching managers, including Isabel Moore and Melanie Welch, who were as good at understanding the other person’s feelings and quick-witted as Lucy.

Theo had them identify the client’s tendencies through hundreds of psychological analysis questions, and repeatedly practiced how to find the most suitable spouse accordingly.

When a report on a couple that the matching managers deemed suitable came up through these preliminary processes, Theo would check it and make the final decision.

As this progressed, the amount of time and energy that Theo had to spend was greatly reduced, and efficiency increased significantly.

Of course, there were many shortcomings compared to Theo’s one-on-one matching, but members were quite satisfied with the much lower cost and faster progress.

“Melanie? Did you organize the data investigated by Investigator Dawson?”

“No. I’m too busy right now. I haven’t even submitted the questionnaire scores yet.”

“You have to look at the information investigation first. No matter what the matching score is, the matching score itself becomes meaningless if the identity is misrepresented.”

“Yes, that’s right. I understand. I’ll check it right away.”

Theo also paid a lot of attention to verifying the identities of registered members.

As is often the case in modern times, especially in this era, it was difficult to verify information about the other party, so it was full of scammers who tried to deceive their identity or wealth and get married.

For example, it was very common to pretend to be unmarried even though they were already married, or to come to the marriage market as if they had no children even though they had children.

There were also frequent cases of absconding after receiving only money in anticipation of a dowry, or forging a family tree and trying to marry as a descendant of a historic family.

When Theo worked alone in Hampstead, he had to spend a lot of time checking whether the person was of certain identity through acquaintances, or by looking at letters of recommendation from people with recognition in the local community, such as local magistrates, landlords, and clergy [members of the church].

However, since the evidentiary documents of this era could be easily forged, cross-verification was necessary, which took twice as long.

Moreover, if he were to run a matchmaking company, he would have to deal with far more members than before, so it was impossible for Theo to investigate on his own as before.

Therefore, professional investigators were needed separately to verify identities as quickly and accurately as possible.

Fortunately, through Chief Townsend of the Bow Street Runners [early form of British police force], whom he met through the Gavin Murray case, he was able to be introduced to retired competent detectives Gregory Dawson and Leslie Powell.

By hiring two experienced retired detectives as information investigators, Theo was able to quickly and accurately verify the facts about member information.

*

Knock knock knock-

Theo, who was looking through the documents sorted out by the matching managers, raised his head at the sound of knocking on the office door.

“Come in.”

Thump-

Lucy opened the door and entered with a somewhat troubled expression.

“CEO. About the ‘VVIP Course’ that you made back then.”

“Yes, why?”

“A person named Count Christopher Hughes came and said he would like to use that course now.”

“What?”

The ‘VVIP Course’ was a special course that was temporarily included to add color to the introduction booklet of the matchmaking company.

It was a course for royalty or people of special status, and it was created assuming that Theo would inevitably have to intervene and handle it from the beginning.

Since the consultation fee and progress fee alone were 500 pounds, he didn’t even think that an ordinary person would apply.

“CEO, what should I do? That count looks very scary?”

“Hmm-”

In a business like a matchmaking company, ‘trust’ is more important than anything else.

If it was someone who had already seen the introduction booklet, he couldn’t just send them back.

“Take the count to the VVIP consultation room and serve him tea. Ask for his understanding that I’ll be down soon.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Behind the cafe on the first floor, a VVIP consultation room was set up separately in consideration of the characteristics of the aristocratic society.

It was to treat special guests with courtesy, and although it was not fully equipped yet, it was somewhat equipped while decorating the cafe.